Michael Barrick
Corporal Michael Barrick was a former Stranded who enlisted with the Coalition of Ordered Governments army using Operation Lifeboat, becoming a Gear soldier. He was a member of Zeta-Six during the Evacuation of Ilima. As a member of Echo-Nine, Barrick fought alongside Sgt.Jonathan Harper in the Timgad area during and after the Lightmass Offensive. However, the detonation of the Lightmass Bomb unleashed vaporized Imulsion particles around the region, giving Barrick and his comrades Rustlung. Sometime in the two months after this, Barrick was reassigned to Echo-Six and sent to the Pirnah Badlands, where the rest of his squad was wiped out. He was later rescued by Delta-One, and Barrick was later assigned to the team. Barrick would be sent to Montevado on a recon mission, only to be killed there, sacrificing his life to save the rest of his squad. Biography Early Life and Living as a Stranded As a child, Barrick got into trouble a lot at school, where he was considered a social outcast.RAAM's Shadow: Hide and Seek Later in his life, Barrick got married and divorced, with his ex-wife taking a lot of his money.RAAM's Shadow: Evacuation After Emergence Day and the Hammer of Dawn Counterattack, which destroyed his house, Barrick lived with the Stranded until joining the Coalition of Ordered Governments army under Operation Lifeboat, despite having no family. His reason, given to Sgt.Marcus Fenix, was that "Being a Gear is a helluva lot more interesting".Gears of War: Hollow Issue Four Evacuation of Ilima City Barrick, now a Gear in the army, was placed in Zeta-Six and assigned to help evacuate the city of Ilima. Barrick, along with Lt. Minh Young Kim, Pvt.Tai Kaliso, and Alicia Valera, defended the civilians during the evacution from the city when it came under attack the forces of General RAAM and a Kryll storm.Gears of War 3: RAAM's Shadow Stationed in Timgad Fourteen years after Emergence Day, Barrick was assigned to Echo-Nine, which was led by Sgt.Jonathan Harper. They were stationed in the Timgad region at the time of the Lightmass bombing, and cheered on the Tyro Pillar as it sped toward its target, a Locust sinkhole that led deep into the Hollow, while carrying a Lightmass Bomb. However, after the bombing, all of the Gears stationed in Timgad began developing rustlung, including Barrick and Harper, which was caused by the vaporized Imulsion fumes. Barrick continued fighting alongside Harper against reemerging Locust forces in the weeks that followed the bombing, but they were soon rotated out of the Timgad area. When they eventually began to feel the ill effects of rustlung, Barrick and the others were sent to Jacinto Med in Jacinto City for treatment. However, they were lied to about the actual causes of the disease by the doctors there, in an effort by elements in the COG government to keep the disease covered up.Gears of War: Harper's Story The Pirnah Badlands Deployed to the Pirnah Badlands Sometime in the weeks that followed, Barrick was transferred for unknown reasons to Echo-Six. His squad was tasked with patrolling the Pirnah Badlands area southwest of Jacinto City around two months after the Lightmass Offensive. During his squads assignment, he became friends with Nash, a fellow Gear who also had Rustlung.Gears of War: Hollow Issue Five Sadly, the other members of Echo-Six were wiped out by Locust forces. Barrick survived long enough to be found by two members of Delta-One, Cpl.Dominic Santiago and Pvt.Gil Gonzalez, who had been sent to locate several missing squads in the area. After he helped them kill a Locust, Barrick reported to Sgt.Marcus Fenix, and informed him that the rest of his squad was dead. He then had a conversation with Pvt.Jace Stratton and Gonzalez, and Gonzalez told him that he was sorry about what had happened to his squad, and Barrick told him that he wasn't as sorry as he was. Barrick then learned how the others viewed Jace as the "kid" of the squad, but Barrick was impressed with Jace's attitude and thought that he was a survivor. The five Gears then headed back to Jacinto City in Delta's APC, stopping briefly to rest during the night. After Barrick and Cpl.Dominic Santiago checked the west section of the camp to make sure they were clear, they settled down for the night. Dom told them stories of Marcus and his mission in the Lethia Imulsion Facility, and Barrick told him to never let him go underground with the two of them, and Dom assured him that he wasn't planning on going down there again anytime soon.Gears of War: Hollow Issue One Ambushed They continued their way back to Jacinto City the next day, but picked up a distress beacon along the way. They arrived to find what appeared to be an abandoned camp, but came under attack from Locust forces. As they scrambled for cover in order to defend themselves, Gonzalez was shot in the shoulder. Jace dragged him to cover as Barrick, Marcus, and Dom covered them. Marcus ordered Barrick to cover their right flank as he and Dom took the left, while Jace attempted to stop Gonzalez's wound from bleeding. As they killed the Locust, Barrick covered Marcus and Dom as they flanked their attackers, killing two Locust with his Gnasher Shotgun. As the battle wound down, he encouraged Gonzalez to hang on, but Barrick, Jace, and Gonzalez's cover was destroyed by a Boomer's Boomshot, and Locust reinforcements arrived. Barrick ordered Jace to get Gonzalez to new cover and provided them covering fire, giving Jace enough time to pull Gonzalez to safety. He charged at one of the three Boomers attacking them, and it yelled at him to die. Barrick slide under the Boomers legs as it fired and told it not today, and chainsawed it between its legs while Marcus threw a Bolo Grenade at the other two. Barrick then drove his chainsaw into the Boomers skull, and Marcus and Dom quickly finished off the other two Boomers. Sadly, Gonzalez had bled out and died in Jace's arms during the battle. The four remaining Gears then returned to Jacinto, and Barrick attended Gonzalez's funeral.Gears of War: Hollow Issue Two Mission to Montevado Flight over the Dorado Hills After a week of rest, Barrick was reassigned to Delta-One. They were sent on a Mission to Montevado, to investigate reports of the city experiencing seismic disturbances. As they flew over the Dorado Hills, Barrick wondered why they were investigating seismic activity, since they had been experiencing that since E-Day, but Marcus told him these were on a lot bigger. Barrick then asked how long until they got to Montevado, and Marcus told him they still had quite a ways to go. After Barrick coughed a few times, Marcus told Barrick that his smoking was going to kill him, but Barrick told him that the war would kill him long before smoking did. Not long after, the King Raven was hit by a Nemacyst, and Jace nearly fell out of the Raven, but Barrick and Marcus grabbed his arms and pulled him back in. They looked down and saw Seeders firing at them, and the Raven was hit again. Marcus asked if everyone was alright, and Barrick told him that everyone was good, but that the pilot had been killed by a second shot. Marcus asked if anyone could fly a Raven, and Barrick told him that he didn't even like flying. Jace told the others that he had flown a Raven before, but as he got in the cockpit, he mentioned that he had never landed one. This disturbed Barrick, and he warned Jace not to kill them all. After Jace managed to avoid more fire from the Seeders, Dom complimented him on his flying, but Barrick told him that he still needed to land it. Another shot hit them and took out the landing gear, causing Barrick to panic even more, but Marcus told him to shut up and let Jace do his job. Jace managed to crash land the Raven on top of an Emergence Hole, killing the Locust coming out of it. Barrick stepped out of the Raven and admired the carnage, congratulating Jace on a "real nice job".Gears of War: Hollow Issue Three Battle for Fucked and Chased by a Brumak Barrick and Delta then moved out on foot through the Dorado Hills toward Montevado, and he told the others that they had a long way to go. After a few days of walking, Barrick joked to the others that they should look on the bright side, and that at least they didn't have to walk all this way in armor. Jace smirked at the comment, and Dom told Barrick to remind him to laugh when this was all over. They then came across a Stranded named Jonboy, who was serving as a lookout for the settlement of Fucked. Jonboy told them that a group of Locust kept raiding the settlement, and that they would give the Gears an APC in exchange for killing them. Marcus agreed, and Delta easily wiped out the Drones. When Jace noticed that there was a kid living among the Stranded, he convinced Marcus to take her with them to find her parents in Montevado. As the four Gears and Lily drove to Montevado, they were ambushed by Locust, and the vehicle was damaged. Barrick exited the APC with Marcus and Dom to hold off the Locust, while Jace told Lily to stay put. They killed all of the Drones, but a Brumak suddenly arrived. Barrick and Dom quickly found cover, and were soon joined by Marcus and Jace. They became cut off from the APC and Lily, and Marcus ordered everyone to scatter. Barrick took cover with Dom behind some rocks, and asked him how they were going to kill a Brumak without any heavy firepower. Dom told him that they couldn't, and they were then joined by Marcus and Jace. The Brumak found them again, and they scattered in four different directions, hoping to draw the Brumak away from the APC. They were saved by the sudden arrival of Sigma-One, with Pvt.Augustus Cole blowing off one of the Brumaks arms with a Boomshot, and Cpl.Damon Baird driving a Centaur tank. Marcus tied the APC to the Centaur, while Barrick and the others got into the tank. As they drove through a valley, the Brumak was buried under a ton of rocks when one of its missiles hit the valley wall. They stopped briefly, and while Dom and Marcus caught up with Baird, and Jace talked with Cole, Barrick found two COG Bikes for Delta to use to reach Montevado. Sigma returned to Jacinto with Lily, and Barrick drove one of the Bikes with Jace riding shotgun to Montevado.Gears of War: Hollow Issue Four Sinking of Montevado Once they reached Montevado, Barrick asked them what the seismic disturbance they were looking for was going to look like. Marcus realized he had a point, and Dom pointed out that they didn’t have any specialized equipment to detect anything. Marcus became annoyed with the mission, and ordered the squad to split up, with Barrick and Marcus scouting the south side of the city, while Dom and Jace took the north side, and see if they could find anything. As they searched, Marcus asked about Barrick’s family, assuming that that is why he joined Operation Lifeboat, but Barrick told him he joined up because being a Gear was more interesting than being a Stranded. Barrick was confused that no one was left at all in a city the size of Montevado, but Marcus told him they might just be hiding extremely well. When Barrick coughed again and spit up blood, Marcus told him he needed to quit smoking, but he told Marcus it was not the smoking that was causing the blood. Before he could explain about rustlung, they came under attack by a group of Wretches. They killed several of them,, but the rest suddenly retreated when the ground began to shake. Montevado then began to sink into the ground, for reasons unknown to the Gears. They survived the sinking, but most of Barricks armor was badly damaged and falling off. He and Marcus discovered their bot, STAN, was crushed under falling rocks. They then headed to regroup with Jace and Dom, using there armors locators to guide them. As they moved toward them, Barrick informed Marcus about rustlung, and how a bunch of Gears who had been stationed in Timgad after the bombing came down with it, including him. He told him that it had been getting worse since then, so that was why he was unconcerned with his smoking, and he lit up the last cigarette in his pack. When they reached Dom and Jace, they found them under attack by Heart Leeches. After they killed the Leeches, Marcus told them they were going to stay together and wait for evacuation the next day. However, a Corpser suddenly punched through a mound of wreckage nearby, and Bloodmounts came pouring through, supported by Drones. A Hero's Death As they fought the Bloodmounts, they discovered that they were very low on ammo. They managed to kill several, but Marcus ordered Dom and Jace to climb out of the sinkhole while he and Barrick held the Locust back. Barrick eventually told Marcus to escape himself, but Marcus told him that there were too many to take by himself. Barrick told him that he knew that, and that the Rustlung was going to kill him eventually, and he wanted to die fighting. Barrick ripped off the remains of his armor, and charged into the Locust lines barehanded. He fought off the Locust and bloodmounts with his fists, and yelled for Marcus to get out and look after the others. As he ripped Locust apart, Marcus escaped, and Barrick was shot by a Beast Rider in the back as he killed two other Locust. However, he managed to hold off the Locust long enough for the rest of Delta-One to escape, dying a hero's death to save their lives.Gears of War: Hollow Issue Six Personality and Traits Barrick's most defining traits were his immense size, his long hair, and his addiction to cigarettes. While not quite cynical, he was an intelligent man with no delusions about life and war. He knew and accepted that he has Rustlung, and that it would kill him, but didn't make a big deal out of this until right before his death. It appeared that he was also a friendly person, as evidenced from his brief interactions with Jace Stratton, and hints that he did care for the rookie's safety. While he served as a loyal Gear, Barrick had issues with the COG and how they ran the war, espically with the Hammer of Dawn Counterattack. Barrick was also a capable soldier, and seemed to prefer the Gnasher shotgun. In his final moments he was strong enough to kill Locust Drones with his bare hands even when mortally wounded. He bore crude COG tattoos on his shoulders. Behind the Scenes *Barrick appeared in and was a major character of the Gears of War: Hollow series and a minor one in Gears of War: Harper's Story. *It appears that Barrick wears the same model of armor as Marcus Fenix and Jace Stratton He goes through two different sets of armor, his first suit was when he was a part of Echo-6 and after his rescue he received a new one.Awesome! FYI - I based Barrick's armor on the Cole Train's (though it's more like Fenix's when we first meet him. He changes at Jacinto.) Jace wears armor like Fenix because he's emulating his hero. I believe he's on the cover to issue 7 because he features in flashbacks... Great wiki page! Best, L. http://liamsharp.deviantart.com/art/My-fav-GoW-page-colored-118405923 *Even though he dies in Issue Six of Gears of War: Hollow, he is present on the cover of Issue Seven. *In Issue Two of Gears of War: Hollow, Barrick tells Dom to remind him never to go underground with him and Marcus. This foreshadows his death when he goes underground with them in Issue Six. *Barrick is shown on the promotional image for the Gears of War 3 Season Pass.Season Pass Announcement *Barrick was voiced by David Boat in RAAM's Shadow.http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1460733/ Multiplayer *Barrick was added as a multiplayer character in the RAAM's Shadow DLC for Gears of War 3 on December 13, 2011. References Category:Characters Category:COG Category:Former Stranded Category:Gear Soldier Category:Humans with Rustlung Category:Males Category:Stranded